Birthday Wishes
by Uncolored186
Summary: Post-Game. Joel had no clue what a seventeen-year-old girl Ellie would want for her birthday. [One-shot]


**Birthday Wishes**

…xXx…

Joel waited for the request. He lost Sarah before she was seventeen, so he had no clue what a seventeen-year-old girl Ellie would want for her birthday. The thought of Sarah still hurt, but with Ellie, his constant companion and partner, the pain became bearable. He could go for books, but he just knew she would want something else. Unlike any other young woman, Ellie had gone through a lot more in a lifetime. Normal gifts just didn't cut it. So, here he was, sitting on a worn sofa with her by his side, he asked her what she wanted, and he would try to fulfil it for her.

Ellie bit her lower lip intentionally while trying to see Joel's reaction. She made an internal cheer when she caught his eyes on her lips before averting his eyes elsewhere. There was lots of when, why, and how, but all that mattered in the end was that she was in love with Joel. Some people would think she was only having a crush, but that was probably what those people wanted to believe. Instead of looking at things with a different set of eyes, people tended to stick to the old rules, the norm. Still, what they thought wouldn't matter to her. They were not important enough to worry about.

Joel loved her, she knew that much. What she wanted to be sure was his feelings if she told him about hers. Nothing would be better than him feeling the same way about her, right? She could only be thankful that he didn't think of her as a daughter. At least, if she confessed, the worst could happen was their current relationship would become a little awkward, not strained.

Looking into his eyes, she sighed dramatically. "I'm afraid, what I want is not something you will give."

Joel considered her words carefully. She wanted something that he might or might not give to her. What would it be? For the life of him, he couldn't guess any without crossing the line. He was very aware that Ellie had grown into a beautiful, young woman. Many guys fancied her, but as long as he could remember, she had never treated any of them differently. Aside from her usual cussing, she was always polite and kept her distance from them. Of course, he also noticed that she would be upset if he talked to any unattached woman in their community for too long. He once told her that he was not looking for a relationship as long as he had her, so she could rest easy. What he got was a glare and 'It's not you I'm worried about!' speech. It was humbling that she trusted and knew him better than anyone else. But then, who could blame her? Both of them had gone through a lot.

A month after they settled down, the guilt was eating him, which led him to confess the truth about the Fireflies. He had been afraid then, but she was surprisingly accepting once he explained why he did what he did. She understood, and he was most grateful for that. Nevertheless, he lessened his contact with other women, except for Maria, to avoid upsetting her. It didn't matter how sick it was, but he loved Ellie in every sense of word. She was his life, his everything. If she was gone, he would willingly follow after her.

Stroking his beard, he said, "I can't think of anything that I won't give you."

Her heart skipped a beat. "You will give me anything I ask?"

He hummed. "Well, everything but a yes for getting married to a guy I don't approve."

She turned red before turning sad.

As always, he noticed her sadness. "Hey, what's wrong, baby girl?"

She let out a sad smile. "Do you think I will be able to get married when I'm infected like this?"

Unable to look at her sad face anymore, he pulled her into his lap and gave her a tight hug. "Oh, baby girl, I..." He didn't even know what to say to make her feel better. Apology was not enough and sounded lame. If he could cross the line, he would say he would be more than willing to marry her.

"It's okay. I'll be fine as long as you stay with me." She closed her eyes and buried her face against his shirt. It always felt good to be in his strong arms and to smell his unique scent. Joel always gave her a sense of security and contentment.

He rubbed her back comfortingly. "I'll stay with you as long I live. Never doubt that, Ellie."

She nodded against his chest, pulled away and looked at Joel in the eye. "So, for my seventeenth birthday..."

"Yes?"

"Kisses."

He blinked. "Excuse me?"

She took a deep breath and repeated, "I want kisses from you, Joel." Before he could open his mouth, she added, "Kisses between a man and a woman."

Okay, he admitted he had feelings for Ellie, but that didn't mean he wanted to do something that would look bad on her in the future. It didn't matter if people thought badly of him, just not her. Still, he wanted to be sure. "Ellie, I'm old enough to be your grand—"

"Do I look like I fucking care about that, or about what people think for that matter?" She snapped and tried to get away from his embrace, but he held on, refusing to let her go.

"I know that, baby."

Hearing how he called her that made her stop struggling.

"I just don't want you to re—"

"I love you, Joel. I'm not going to regret anything about us. If you don't feel the same—"

He kissed her then, stopping whatever she was trying to say. It was only a chaste kiss that conveyed how much he treasured and adored her. Pulling away, he told her, "I love you, too, baby girl."

Happy beyond words, she kissed him on the lips.

As she wished, Joel gave her kisses throughout the year. Of course, it only happened when they were alone even though it became increasingly difficult as time went by. Their kisses often got heated, but Joel was always the rational one and stopped her from going further than fondling. Finally, on the night before she turned eighteen, he granted her wish to have him as her lover. Ellie was in bliss when they made love for the first time. Just a taste and she became addicted. It was because of this addiction that a month later, Maria found them naked in his bed.

Awkward was an understatement.

Maria tried really hard to understand, but a part of her just couldn't accept it. Nevertheless, she knew that she would have to try to get used to seeing them together.

"Are you happy?" she asked the younger woman.

"Blissfully."

She still wanted to make sure. "He didn't force you, did he?"

Maria recognised the look Ellie gave to Joel as the young woman confessed, "No, he didn't. He gave me a year to make sure this is what I want, and it is."

Maria turned to Joel, who was smiling at Ellie and knew her answer immediately. They were in love with each other. She sighed. "Tommy is not going to be happy about this, but given time, I'm sure he will."

Turned out, Tommy knew about their feelings for one another long before they started seeing each other. When asked why he never said anything, he only shrugged and told them, "Not my right to tell." Tommy, at first, was disturbed by their fondness of each other, but after all the shit his brother and Ellie had gone through, he just felt that he had no right to object whatever they wanted. Joel was also his brother, and after Sarah, he wanted him to be happy once more. If it was Ellie who could make his brother happy, then so be it.

For the rest of the community, they had a hard time to accept them, but after a while, they, too, saw how in love they were and decided to just let them be. All was well for both Joel and Ellie.

It went without saying that Ellie's next birthday wish was to have him as her husband. Joel had never bothered with such formality, but he knew she wanted it nonetheless. Although they wanted a quiet wedding, they were found out and dragged into the great hall for a celebration. Needlessly to say, it was a joyful day for them both. Though their current world did not give much of an option for a honeymoon, Joel and Ellie did leave Jackson for a while but they were still reachable should anything happen.

Time went on just like any other day until Ellie's 21st birthday.

Joel frowned. "Are you sure?"

She gave him a blank stare. "Do I look like unsure?"

He heaved a sigh. "Ellie, I... I want you to know that should anything—"

"Did I ever tell you that as long as we're together, we'll be fine? Now, I tell you, I want this. The question is, do you?"

To be honest, he was scared. It was not about the parenting, because Sarah turned out just fine, but it was more about the possibility of failing to protect another child. Looking into those pleading green eyes, he couldn't help but hope that maybe, just maybe, everything would be all right this time around, despite the current state of their world.

"You truly want this not because you wanted to give Noel a playmate, right?"

Ellie looked away. "I guess Noel did give me the idea, but I do know I want us to have a child."

Noel was Maria and Tommy's first child and was born last year. Honestly, when he saw Ellie hold Noel for the first time, he did wonder how she would look like when she was holding their child. In the end, he fulfilled her wish and a little over nine months later, they welcomed Edward Miller into the family.

It was when Edward was one year old that Joel asked her what she wanted for her next birthday. She only smiled and said, "A happy ever after."

**The End**

**Thanks for reading.**


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